Dogs don't mix with warm cars

By Irwin Loy, 24 hours

Hot dogs die in stuffy cars. It's simple, but people still aren't getting the message, according to the SPCA.

The B.C. SPCA has fielded more than 100 calls this summer from people who've spotted dogs suffering locked in cars, says Lorie Chortyk with the SPCA.

"People just don't think," Chortyk said yesterday. "It's not that they're trying to harm their pet. They just think, 'I'm just running into the store for 10 minutes,' and they don't realize the animals can die in 10 minutes."

They also don't realize they could be charged with a criminal offence.

"We have charged people with cruelty," said Chortyk, adding it wasn't common.

SPCA officers are authorized to break into cars to rescue suffocating pets if they are in immediate danger. Otherwise, police are called.